The origin of the name Kildare (Holiday Apartments, Kildare, Ireland) is from the Gaelic, Cill Dara, meaning Church of the Oak Tree, referring to St. Brigids church beneath an oak tree. St. Brigid was one of the three patron saints of Ireland. St. Brigids church was built on the same location as a shrine to the Celtic goddess Brigda, with which the legend of St. Brigid is suspected to be tied.
Kildare was an important military strategic area in the time of the Anglo-Norman occupation. British military outposts came into being in Kildare in the 1700s. The Curragh, in Kildare, has been the training base for the national army since Ireland became an independant country in the early 20th century.
Co. Kildare
Lying south-west of Co. Dublin, Kildare is entirely an inland area. It is mostly low and grassy, with great bogs in the north-west, where the Boyne has its source, and the foothills of the Wicklow upland fringe the eastern border. North of Kildare town, some knobs of Silurian rock break through the prevailing level sheet of limestone, forming hills which though of insignificant height (676 ft.) assume, importance, on account of the great plain on which they look down. The. open breezy 
gravel-mass of the Curragh near Kildare, is the site of the largest military camp in Ireland. The. Liffey flows across the county in the north-east, and the Barrow forms much of the western boundary. Lakes are entirely absent.
Naas, the assize town, lies near the east. Athy, a busy market town, is on the Barrow in the south-west. Kildare was in ancient times one of the most important ecclesiastical settlements in Ireland. It has two cathedrals, but is a comparatively small place. Maynooth is famous for its great ecclesiastical college. Monasterevan is a quiet place on the upper waters of the Barrow.
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Claire
Castletown House in Celbridge Co.Kildare is one of the most important buildings in the country… Why isn’t it mentioned on this site?? http://www.castletown.ie. It re-opens for tours and events in March but parkland is open all year.
Jan 29th, 2009
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